Seattle storm lingers over Cowboys' Romo

Updated 11:30 pm, Thursday, September 13, 2012

Photo: John Froschauer, Express-News

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Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo holds his head as Al Johnson leans over him after the botched field goal play with 1:19 left in the 21-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks'in an NFC wild card playoff football in Seattle, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo holds his head as Al Johnson leans over him after the botched field goal play with 1:19 left in the 21-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks'in an NFC wild card playoff football in

Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo walks off the field after fumbling a snap on a field goal in the fourth quarter of their NFC Wild Card NFL playoff football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, January 6, 2007. REUTERS/Steve Dipaola

Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo walks off the field after fumbling a snap on a field goal in the fourth quarter of their NFC Wild Card NFL playoff football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, January

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo walks off the field Saturday January 6, 2007 in Seattle after bobbling the hold on a last second field goal to lose to the Seahawks' in the NFC Wildcard game.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo walks off the field Saturday January 6, 2007 in Seattle after bobbling the hold on a last second field goal to lose to the Seahawks' in the NFC Wildcard game.

Photo: WILLIAM LUTHER, Express-News

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Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, picks up the ball Saturday January 6, 2007 in Seattle after bobbling the snap to break-up a last second field goal attempt that would have given the Cowboys the win in the NFC wild card game. The Seahawks won 21-20.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, picks up the ball Saturday January 6, 2007 in Seattle after bobbling the snap to break-up a last second field goal attempt that would have given the Cowboys the win in the

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo leaves the field after the Cowboys were defeated by Seattle Seahawks in their NFC Wild Card NFL playoff football game in Seattle, January 6, 2007. REUTERS/Richard Clement

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo leaves the field after the Cowboys were defeated by Seattle Seahawks in their NFC Wild Card NFL playoff football game in Seattle, January 6, 2007. REUTERS/Richard Clement

Photo: RICHARD CLEMENT, Express-News

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Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo lowers his head while sitting on the bench following his fumble to the Seattle Seahawks' during the final minutes of their NFC wild card playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007, in Seattle.The Seahawks defeated the Cowboys, 21-20.(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo lowers his head while sitting on the bench following his fumble to the Seattle Seahawks' during the final minutes of their NFC wild card playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 6,

With the Dallas Cowboys set to play in Seattle this weekend for the first time since they lost to the Seahawks in the 2006 playoffs, Tony Romo has been bombarded with questions about how he dealt with one of the most difficult days in his career.

In typical Romo fashion, he started things off with a joke.

“Shoot, it feels like I was 10 years old back then,” the

32-year-old quarterback said.

When the laughter subsided, Romo turned philosophical while reliving how he fumbled the hold on a 19-yard field-goal attempt with 1:19 left, allowing Seattle to escape with a 21-20 wild-card round win. Romo picked the ball up, scrambled to his left, but was stopped short of the goal line.

Many consider the gaffe to be Romo's career-defining moment, a demon that only can be exorcised by a Super Bowl win.

“Football is a great game,” Romo said in a conference call with the Seattle media. “It teaches you a lot of lessons. ... Going through the adverse situations you go through can help build character, help you learn what is needed to get better and how to improve as a team.

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“That was one of those situations where you took it as it was. It was a disappointing loss and very tough at the time. What you do is you get better. You go back to work, you put your head down and you get better.”

Adhering to that time-tested plan for bouncing back from adversity, a highly motivated Romo set franchise records in 2007 for passing yards and touchdowns while leading Dallas to a 13-3 regular season record. It was the first of three seasons he's had since the infamous bobble in which he's passed for at least 4,000 yards and 26 TDs while posting a passer rating of 97.4 or better.

And also since that heartbreaking loss, Romo is 3-0 against Seattle, completing 61.4 percent of his passes for 866 yards with eight TDs and one interception for a 111.2 rating.

“We really saw him elevate his game the next year and put himself in a category of elite quarterback,” tight end Jason Witten told DallasCowboys.com. “It really fueled him.”

Dallas hired Jason Garrett as its offensive coordinator in 2007. Now coach, Garrett said he didn't see “a down person” in Romo when they first started working together.

“When you play a challenging game like we do, you're going to have things that don't go your way,” Garrett said. “The best players and the best teams get better as a result of it. Tony's demonstrated that throughout his career.”

The Cowboys never bring the miscue up to Romo, but Witten remembers New Orleans coach Sean Payton joking about it during the 2007 Pro Bowl.

“I wanted to punch (Payton),” Witten said. “But (Romo) probably laughed out of respect. That's the way Tony is. He's going to be the bigger man. But he was hurt for a while, not just because he felt like he lost the game, but because he felt like he let his teammates down.”

Romo declined to say whether the Seattle game was the lowest point in his career.

“Every season you don't win the Super Bowl, it's never a good feeling,” said Romo, who is 1-3 in the playoffs. “You are always striving to never have that feeling again. That's why you work so hard. I just want to continue to get better.”

Notebook: Dallas signed defensive lineman Sean Lissemore to a three-year extension that includes $3.1 million guaranteed and will keep him under contract through 2016, DallasCowboys.com reported. ... Safety Gerald Sensabaugh (concussion) participated fully in practice after being limited Wednesday. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware (hamstring) also was limited.